Patent Application
20120247034
The present invention relates to the field of shelters for pleasure pools adopting the form of a rotunda and in particular to adaptations for producing the rotating-movement roof elements to the best standard.
There exist in the prior art shelters for pleasure pools such as in particular spas that offer a rotunda form adopting a substantially hemispherical or cylindrical shape. There also exist in the prior art shelters for pleasure pools of the swimming pool type that offer a rotunda or semi-rotunda form.
To do this, these shelters comprise rotating roof elements each forming an angular portion of the shelter and rotating about the same vertical axis.
These roof elements comprise a circular lower edge resting on the ground, a cylindrical panel, and profiles starting from the top edge of the panel and joining it in order to form an angular roof portion, the connecting ends of said roof elements being mounted so as to rotate about the same vertical axis.
Unlike conventional roof elements that rest on either side of the pool and therefore have two support zones, the rotating roof elements participating in this rotunda are cantilevered and have a base bearing on the ground or on the area surrounding the pool and a top end in pivot connection about a vertical axis common to a plurality of rotating roof elements. This vertical axis constitutes a second support point offset with respect to the first and must therefore be sized for this purpose without impairing the aesthetic appearance.
Another constraint relating to the use of a rotunda form lies in the mobility of the rotating roof elements, a mobility that must allow the greatest possible access to the pool. However, conventionally, one or more rotating elements remain fixed in order to guarantee the support of the others and the rigidity of the whole. These fixed roof elements are then oversized in order to successfully implement this function of supporting the others.
Another solution consists of proposing a fixed internal structure for supporting said roof elements.
Another constraint lies in the sizing of the rotating elements which, if they must all pivot, must then have an extendable structure allowing the rotation and retraction of one rotating element with respect to another. However, in the context of a shelter having optimised rigidity, the thicknesses of the various profiles forming the support frame for the fill-in panels is liable to negate an aesthetic effect.
These various constraints led shelter designers to propose rotunda structures that are lighter and less mobile and have parts specifically sized for each rotating roof element constituting the rotunda.
Starting from this state of affairs, the applicant carried out research aimed at solving the drawbacks described above. This research resulted in the design and production of a shelter for pleasure pools having partially or wholly a rotunda configuration and comprising a plurality of angular rotating roof elements forming an angular portion of the dome or of the rotunda and rotating about the same vertical axis, each angular rotating roof element comprising a frame enclosing a cylindrical fill-in panel, the frame comprising a circular bottom edge resting on the ground, a top edge from which at least two profiles project towards the rotation axis, which join in order to form, with said top edge, a frame for an angular portion of the fill-in panel forming the roof, said roof elements being mounted so as to rotate about the same vertical axis. This shelter is remarkable in that each frame enclosing a cylindrical fill-in panel is equipped with a profile curved along the rotation axis of the element and placed in its internal part between the bottom edge and the top edge of a handrail.
The presence of this handrail profile affords numerous advantages in addition to a support for the user and better manoeuvrability of the roof element.
This is because this additional profile stiffens a frame and offers a support surface to the fill-in panel reinforcing those offered by the frame surrounding said panel.
This support will thus make it possible to avoid excess thickness of the fill-in panel. This is because a vertical cylindrical surface is subjected to the forces due to wind and must be able to withstand such forces. The shelter of the invention avoids a technological solution consisting of oversizing the frames or thicknesses of the panels, which would increase costs and reduce manoeuvrability.
The addition of this supplementary profile thus brings technical effects going beyond the handrail function while lightening the structure and at the same time stiffening it.
This shelter can adopt the form of a complete rotunda arranged for example above a spa or a semi-rotunda arranged at the end of a high shelter.
According to another feature, this shelter comprises a vertical shaft on which said rotating roof elements arranged below pivot.
According to the form adopted by the shelter, this shaft is supported by a different element. According to a first solution where the shelter adopts the form of a complete rotunda, it comprises an external arch 300 forming a portico and supporting said vertical shaft at its middle part.
The use of an additional external support structure is particularly advantageous in that it avoids the use of an internal supporting skeleton. In addition, it avoids the oversizing and fixing of one or more roof elements in order to fulfill this function. In addition, by avoiding making one of the roof elements fixed for support purposes, it guarantees complete angular mobility of the set of roof elements, allowing non-limitative positioning of the retracted assembly.
According to another particular advantageous feature contributing to stability and avoiding oversizing, said portico has an assembly of three uprights and three half-beams placed at 120 degrees.
According to another particularly advantageous feature contributing to the overall aesthetic appearance of the shelter, the top part of the rotating roof elements repeats the slope or curve of said portico.
Another feature participating in the aesthetic appearance lies in the fact that said rotating elements are sized so that, in the deployed position, one rim out of two advantageously coincides with the plane in which the upright and half-beam are situated.
According to one technological choice, the shelter adopts an extendable configuration in which the roof elements adopt a decreasing size to enable retraction thereof inside only one.
The angular roof elements are composed of:
a first vertical part consisting of a cylindrical portion with a vertical axis represented by the shaft,
a second substantially flat part with a triangular shape repeating any slope on the portico and providing a connection between the top edge of the cylindrical portion and the shaft.
According to a second solution in which the shelter adopts the form of a semi-rotunda placed at the end of a high shelter, the top end of said vertical shaft is fixed to an arch belonging to the frame of a non-rotating roof element with a size greater than the largest of the rotating roof elements.
According to another particularly advantageous feature, the top ends of said angular roof elements are equipped with a connecting part equipped with at least one collar preformed vertically with an orifice. In order to form a guide sleeve fitted on the shaft, said sleeve has a thickness less than or equal to one half of the connecting part so that turning over the connecting part allows by symmetry the pivot connection on the same shaft of an angular roof element of identical dimensions.
This feature makes it possible to use identical roof elements and thus reduces the cost of a rotunda. In addition, it makes it possible to use the same connecting parts for different roof elements. Such a feature is particularly suited to two identical roof elements arranged opposite each other. The following pair of roof elements has smaller dimensions but can have identical connecting parts fitted according to the same principle at a lower height along said shaft and so on.
According to the invention, said shelter is also remarkable in that it comprises two types of connecting part having sleeves disposed symmetrically on either side of the symmetry plane of the top part of the roof elements and used on the side towards which said element retracts.
According to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, the connecting part is equipped with two sleeves angularly offset on the same radius and offset in height so that, depending on the sleeve chosen, the height with which the roof element is associated with said shaft differs, thus allowing the pivoting of roof elements of identical sizes. Said angular offset increases the possibilities of angular movement of a roof element with respect to its opposite one placed symmetrically.
According to another particularly advantageous feature, the top part of the roof elements comprises two ends of two profiles the connection of which is provided by said connecting part. Said connecting part thus has several functions and reduces the number of parts necessary.
The fill-in panels framed by the profiles forming the frameworks of the roof elements can be produced from a plurality of materials, such as for example:
polycarbonate, transparent or not,
glass,
microperforated textile,
PVC,
etc.
Other features are able to be offered by the shelter of the invention, such as for example:
each frame of angular rotating roof elements comprises two uprights to which the ends of said curved profile are fixed, the latter being fixed in the thickness of said uprights so that it does not form, with respect to the latter, an inward projection opposite said uprights,
said curved profile is equipped, on the external periphery thereof, with fixing blocks fulfilling the function of points for supporting and fixing the fill-in panels,
the top adjoining the profiles enclosing the triangular roof panel is offset with respect to the rotation axis of said rotating roof element.
The fundamental concepts of the invention having been disclosed above in the most elementary form thereof, other details and features will emerge more clearly from a reading of the following description with regard to the accompanying drawings, giving by way of non-limitative example an embodiment of a shelter for a pleasure pool according to the invention.
a are schematic drawings illustrating the connection between the handrail and the uprights,
As illustrated on the drawing in
This shelter A is broken down into a plurality of roof elements 100 resting on the ground S (or on an area surrounding the pool) and the top part of which is in abutment on and pivots on a shaft 200 supported by an external upper superstructure composed of a tripod 300 independent of the roof elements 100 and connected to the latter solely by means of the central shaft 200.
Said portico has a set of three uprights 310 and three half-beams 320 arranged at 120 degrees. The roof elements 100 move in the internal space delimited by this external structure 300.
Said angular roof elements 100 are composed of:
a first vertical part 110 consisting of a cylindrical portion with a vertical axis represented by the shaft 200,
a second substantially flat part with a triangular shape 120 repeating any slope on the gantry 300 and providing the connection between the top edge of the cylindrical portion and the shaft 200.
Each part is framed by a set of profiles 130 supporting fill-in panels P.
As illustrated, the profiles 131 and 132 forming the angle of the triangular portion 120 join and are connected by means of a connecting part 400 that provides the connection of the contiguous ends of the profiles and connection thereof to the shaft 200. As illustrated on the drawing in
As illustrated on the drawing in
As illustrated on the drawing in
The presence of the tripod supporting the roof elements 100 makes it possible to benefit from complete angular freedom as to the retracted open position illustrated on the drawing in
As illustrated on the drawings in
More precisely, the shelter A′ is formed from rectilinear roof elements E1′ able to move in the direction of the double arrow F1′ in translation above its pool and roof elements E2′ forming angular portions of the semi-rotunda R′ and able to move in the direction of the double arrow F2′ in rotation about the same axis represented by the shaft 100′.
As illustrated, the rectilinear roof elements E1′ are composed of a framework formed from two skeleton elements 200′ braced by crossmembers 300′, a framework serving to frame and support one or more fill-in panels P′. More precisely, the skeleton elements 200′ are formed by two uprights 210′ supporting two beams 220′ assembled at the symmetry plane of the shelter, forming an angle to constitute a ridge of the roof of the shelter A′.
Said fill-in panels P′ may be produced from a plurality of materials, such as for example:
polycarbonate, transparent or not,
glass,
microperforated textile,
PVC,
etc.
In accordance with the invention, the external skeleton element 200′ situated at one end of the shelter A′ provides, by means of its beams 220′, the support for a shaft 100′ above which the angular roof elements E2′ constituting the rotunda R′ will pivot in order to pass from the position illustrated by the drawing in
In accordance with the invention, each frame framing a cylindrical fill-in panel is equipped with a profile C′ curved along the rotation axis of the element and which, arranged in the internal part between the bottom edge and the top edge, forms a handrail.
As illustrated in the latter figure, the angular elements retract completely inside the rectilinear roof element to which they are connected, thus affording complete access to the inside of the shelter A′.
As illustrated, if the rotunda part R′ does indeed adopt an extendable structure, it adopts a symmetrical extendable structure and allows the use of identical angular roof elements. Thus, according to the embodiment illustrated, said rotunda R′ comprises five (5) rotating angular roof elements E2′ with four elements identical in pairs and a single fifth one smaller in height than those of the smallest pair. Thus, when they are in pairs, the roof elements are identical and are placed symmetrically with respect to each other without preventing retraction.
This specificity is made possible by the particularly judicious technical choices combined in the pivot connection used by the shaft 100′ and which appear on the drawings in
These angular elements E2′ are, according to the embodiment illustrated, composed of:
a first vertical part 410′ consisting of a cylindrical portion with a vertical axis represented by the shaft 100′,
a second substantially flat part with a triangular shape 420′ repeating the slope of the roof formed by the shelter and providing the connection between the top edge of the cylindrical portion 410′ and the shaft 100′.
The second part 420′ is therefore composed of a circular rim adopting the circular form of the rotunda and two profiles 421′ and 422′ connected at a first end to the top rim of the cylindrical portion and joining at an end that will come to be connected with the shaft 100′.
The connection between the two profiles 421′ and 422′ bordering the top part of the roof element E2′ and forming the triangular part and the connection between this top part and the shaft 100′ are produced by means of a connecting part.
According to one embodiment, this connecting part is identical for each angular roof element E2′.
Nevertheless, according to the embodiment illustrated, two types of connecting parts 500a′ and 500b′ (cf.
The connecting part 500a′ comprises a body 510a′ from where project, at the angle of the triangle forming the top part of the roof element E2′, two profiles 520a′ and 530a′ able to fit in the joining hollow ends of the profiles 421′ and 422′. This body 510a′ is also preformed from a sleeve 540a′ bored with an orifice 541a′.
According to the part 500a′ or 500b′, these collars have the same thickness and their bore is the same diameter, enabling them to offer a sliding pivot connection with the shaft 100′, as illustrated on the drawing in
The presence of two collars and therefore of two possibilities of connection to the shaft 100′, possibilities of equivalent radius but different heights, is evidenced from a study of
To facilitate this rotation, the connecting parts are also preformed so as to have cooperating complementary shapes once the connecting parts of two roof elements of identical dimensions are positioned on the shaft 100′ and allowing the greatest possible angular mobility. Thus each connecting part is preformed with the counter-shape of the collar of the connecting part of the facing roof element.
In order to support this assembly of pivoting parts, the shaft 100′ is associated, by means of a bearing 110′, with the beam 220′ and comprises, on its bottom end, a removable axial stop 120′. As illustrated, the top end of said vertical shaft 100′ is fixed to an arch 220 with a size greater than the largest of the rotating roof elements forming the rotunda R′.
In order to avoid said bottom stop 120′ supporting all the forces alone, axial support rings 130′ are fixed to the shaft 100′, being interposed between the collars 550′ or 540′ of the connecting parts 500′. In order to facilitate this function, said rings are associated with nylon braces.
As illustrated on the drawing in
In addition, as illustrated on the drawing in
The embodiment of the shelter A″ illustrated by the drawings in
According to the configuration proposed, the four roof modules have in pairs the same roof angle. Thus the roof module 100″ has the same angle as the module 300″. Likewise, the angle of the module 200″ is identical to that proposed by the module 400″.
In addition, the angle formed by the roof of the modules 100″ and 300″ corresponds substantially to twice that of the roof of the modules 200″ and 400″. This angular distribution allows the open configuration illustrated by the drawing in
The juxtaposition of the two modules 200″ and 400″ is made possible without conflict at the rotation shaft by means of the feature illustrated by the drawing in
It will be understood that the shelter that has just been described and depicted above was so described and depicted with a view to a disclosure rather than a limitation. Naturally various arrangements, modifications and improvements could be made to the above example without for all that departing from the scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0958602 | Dec 2009 | FR | national |
| 0958641 | Dec 2009 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR10/52607 | 12/3/2010 | WO | 00 | 5/26/2012 |
